Hey Sister Tribe, I’m Mel. I am the Head of Social Impact at Global Sisters, and joined the team in October 2018. I have two daughters, who keep me on my toes by day, and well and truly awake and sleep-deprived by night. They are one and three *yawn. I am married to a kind carpenter Drew, who runs his own building business, and occasionally builds me a nice piece of furniture for the home.
Before working with Global Sisters, I spent the previous decade working in International Development, and Humanitarian relief. This meant lots of travel to remote, and incredible parts of the world meeting resilient, creative and interesting people – who are overcoming incredible barriers in their lives – material poverty, health issues, human rights abuses, war, displacement and disempowerment. I feel so privileged to have spent those years being able to collaboratively problem solve and support solutions through local project initiatives. I truly believe, we are all creative, and given the opportunity or right environment we can all bring about changes in our lives, and for our families and communities. I have witnessed it time and time again, the amazing capacity for people to overcome huge problems with very little resources or support if given the time, network, capital or self-belief.
I am a storyteller by nature, so a big part of what drew me to work for Global Sisters is the individual stories that make up the Global Sisters story. The women across this country, who are building business for themselves, which in turn is building a story for themselves that is so different to the narrative that was once laid before them. I myself have felt inspired by the many sisters who I have met and spoken with to start my own ‘side hustle’ and find My Big Idea (stay tuned…). For the rest of 2019 (I can’t believe we are in August!!!) I plan to spend more time finding ways to speak with sisters across the different region – either in person or via zoom, and create clever ways to measure and tell the stories of the impact you are having in your own lives, and in your family and communities. And the impact Global Sisters is making, for women across Australia. Making Business possible for them.